# Have You (And Maybe A Friend) Ever Been The Only One(s) In A Movie Audience? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2005, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994 "2005-07-31T08:25:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/41 "2005-08-01T06:56:34Z")
Well, yes and no. In my freshman year of high school, about half of our theatre program went to see _Spider-Man_ on opening night. A full row of high school theatre students, and maybe one other couple. The other couple left after the first round of seeing who could scream “Puppy DOG!” the loudest. I feel kinda bad for them now. ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/42 "2005-08-01T08:57:46Z")
My best friend and I, both having a liking for jazz and blues, went to see “Blues Brothers 2000,” and for a while it seemed that we’d be the only ones there. (We did realize beforehand that it was gonna suck, but we wanted to hear the music.) At the last minute before the lights dimmed, another two couples came in (separately). I said to them, “Hey, if we start heckling too loud, we won’t be offended if you tell us to shut up.” Their response: “Don’t worry. We’ll be right there with ya.” ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/43 "2005-08-01T16:19:08Z")
> [@Dusty](#): > > Often, particularly if it’s in the middle of the day and the movie’s been playing for a while already. I think the last movie I saw that I was the only one in the audience for was _Dark Water_. > > (Incidentally, did that movie have a point? It just drug on and on and climaxed to nothing. I’m really growing tired of the Japanese horror film remake fad.) Exact same with me- mid-day showing two weeks ago near the end of the run of… Dark Water. Which I liked, btw. I thought it was spooky but not scary and was DEFINITELY saaaad! A friend & I also were the only ones for a late-evening showing near the end run of Silence of the Lanbs. That was great fun! ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/44 "2005-08-01T16:34:32Z")
An ex-GF of mine and I were the only ones at a midday showing of the latest Bond flick (Die Another Day?) Try as I might, I was unable to convince her to have sex in the theatre. ☹ I mean, honestly, isn’t that what empty theatre’s are for!? ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/45 "2005-08-01T17:16:58Z")
Jason X, with **Rebekkah** - I was the only one laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/46 "2005-08-01T17:59:02Z")
> [@Danalan](#): > > Sigh. > > There were about 6 people in the theatre when the movie started – but the rest all left after 10 minutes or so. Possibly they had come in late to the prior show and wanted to see the beginning. Possibly. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![critter42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@critter42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/critter42)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/47 "2005-08-01T20:14:26Z")
It’s only happened to me twice, but in what can only be regarded as a monumental lapse of good judgement, it happened on two consecutive Fridays and were the opening night of each movie to boot! When I give the titles, you can see why 🙂 The year: 1989 The dates: May 26 and June 2 The movies: _No Holds Barred_ and _Pink Cadillac_ We showed up to NHB rather early (like 45 minutes or so) and we were the only ones in the theater. Didn’t think a whole lot of it, 'cause you didn’t have near as many “event” movies at the time, and _Ghostbusters 2_ and _Batman_ were only a couple of weeks away, so I figured everyone was saving up their money. The clock ticked closer and closer to showtime, and still no one else came in. Finally, about 5 min before showtime, a theater employee came up to us and asked if we still wanted to see the movie. We told him “sure”, and we watched the movie without seeing another soul enter. I was kind of glad there wasn’t anyone else because we got to MST3K that piece of celluloid waste. Fast forward a week. Again my friend and I were bored. We looked at the listings and saw the big ad for _Pink Cadillac_. We go “cool, a new Clint Eastwood movie!” and head on down to the same theater. This time we arrived about 10 minutes prior to show time and again walked into an empty theater (it happened to be the same screen as the previous movie). The same kid as before came in the theater, looks at us, looks at the rest of the empty seas, then just blurts out “do ya’ll just enjoy paying to see really crappy movies?”. I assumed from his expression that he all of a sudden realized he had just said that out loud, and quickly went on to ask if we wanted to see this movie. We foolishly told him we did and were subsequently subjected to another piece of film used as toilet paper. Two weeks later we were standing in line to get into Ghostbusters 2 (at the same theater, of course). Same guy sees us in line and says “It’s about time” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/48 "2005-08-01T20:22:49Z")
I got you all beat. My first job was in a movie theater, and by the time I was 18, I was working as an assistant manager. One night, working at a little twin in Randallstown that is long gone now, _nobody came to the movies all night_. Not one single person showed for either of the early shows (We ran them anyway, in case you’re wondering, that way if someone had come in late we wouldn’t have screwed up the scheduled late shows by starting a movie half an hour (or whatever) late). Nobody showed up for the late shows either, and precisely 15 minutes after they had been scheduled to start I locked the doors and went home early. As for theater sex, I always fucked my GF at the time in the projection booth. Right on the rewind table. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/49 "2005-08-01T20:38:13Z")
> [@Manatee](#): > > Way back when, for **Night of the Comet** , it was just me and the two friends that I came with. That movie was in theaters? :eek: I thought it was made-for-cable. I loved it when I was young, but when I saw it again a year or so ago it’d lost a lot of its charm. I took my brother to see **Mortal Kombat: Annihilation** one afternoon not long after it came out and we were the only two people in the theater. Much more recently, a friend and I went to an early Sat showing of \*\*Boogeyman \*\* and there was just us and three little old ladies there. We were sure they had wandered into the wrong theater, but they hadn’t. My friend claims that will be us in 40-50 years 😃 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/50 "2005-08-01T20:39:05Z")
When Sheena came out, I was only 17. My friend & I were planning to see some other movie, cannot remember anymore. They warned us AC was broken. Sheena was starting at about the same time so we decided on Sheena with no clue what it was about. (Vague notions of a female Tarzan rip-off with a Charlie’s Angel in title Role). My friend & I were both 17. We were only ones in theatre and we both loved the movie for some reason not to do with the plot, writing or acting. ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/51 "2005-08-01T20:44:00Z")
My brother and I were the only ones in the theatre when we saw [Bean: The Movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118689/). Well, actually we didn’t _see_ the movie. We were too busy running up and down the ailses, hopping seats, depleting our respective supplies of popcorn by hurling fistfulls at each other, slapping the screen to watch the ripple patterns, etc. Does anyone know, was that movie any good? I’m sure this was a microcosmic example of what would happen to society if ever the security infrastructure were removed. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/52 "2005-08-01T20:48:48Z")
It used to happen to me all the time. When I was in college, I tried to always go to the movies at the first Sunday matinee. Living in the Bible Belt (Memphis, to be exact), that resulted in me routinely having the entire theatre to myself, thus allowing me to admire Carre Otis’ mammaries in peace. Though I was, of course, mostly interested in … um … art films. Yeah, art films. ---
**Author:** ![tiltypig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@tiltypig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiltypig)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/53 "2005-08-01T20:50:46Z")
Cagey Drifter and I were the only ones in the theater when we went to go see The Country Bears. It was an evening show, too. What a weird movie. I liked all the humans drinking big pints of honey at the bear bar. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/54 "2005-08-01T20:57:21Z")
In the early 1960s, my younger brother and I were the only folks in the theater during a showing of **Billy Budd** , with Peter Ustinov and Terence Stamp. It’s a wonderful movie, and it saddened me that it was such a box office flop that a matinee showing would draw an audience of only two people. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/55 "2005-08-01T21:12:47Z")
1999, I was all hyped up about this new sci-fi movie that was coming out. You see, it was a prequel of a series I was rather fond of from years past that had featured Mark Hamil. That’s right. [Wing Commander](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0131646/)🆒 It was me, my dad, my little brother, and a half dozen other folks in the theatre. The Star Wars Episode I trailer played, much cheering from the audience. Star Wars trailer ends, the half dozen people not with me all get up and leave. :rolleyes: I enjoyed the movie, even though it was cheezy, borrowed HEAVILY from WWII movies, was hindered by Freddie Prince Jr. trying to pull a role that allowed him to neither be funny nor take part in a dance number, and liberally had nothing to do with the games it was based on. Maybe a third of the fun for me was spotting parts where the movie had mixed things up. What can I say? I’m economically amused, and it had David Warner in it. I own the DVD 🙂 I do believe that’s the closest to an empty house I’ve seen for a movie. ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/56 "2005-08-02T04:59:57Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > That movie was in theaters? :eek: I thought it was made-for-cable. Alright! Way to make the geezer feel old, whippersnapper! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/57 "2005-08-02T05:15:04Z")
Heh. This actually happened to me and Hubby yesterday. We went to a Monday afternoon showing of **The Island** and were the only people there. It was great. We got to go “Ooooh!” and “Aaaah!” and “That’s gotta hurt!” in all the exciting chase/fight scenes. The time before that, it was when I saw **Shrek**. All on my lonesome. That was pretty cool too. No kids. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/58 "2005-08-02T06:41:01Z")
I went to see “Star Trek 9” with a friend. We were the only ones in the theater. After the movie ended, I could see why. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/59 "2005-08-03T02:02:44Z")
I saw **The Wizard of Oz** all by my lonesome during it’s rerelease a few years back. It was the last show on a Sunday night. Awesome! ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994/60 "2005-08-03T14:02:05Z")
Saw a movie called [Spaced Invaders](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100666/) with a friend (we weren’t very bright back then) at the old Showcase Cinema East in wilkins Township. We were the only fools in the audience. I sat in a broken chair and had to move. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-and-maybe-a-friend-ever-been-the-only-one-s-in-a-movie-audience/314994.md?page=4)